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Biography - Born 07/22/1938
An English leading man with striking pale eyes and a knack for conveying intense, disturbing characters both evil and benign, Terence Stamp made his film debut as the naive yet ambiguous title character in Peter Ustinov's adaptation of "Billy Budd" (1962). After reinforcing his initial impression via the chilling title role of William Wyler's "The Collector" (1965), he went on to distinguish himself in the films of Joseph Losey ("Modesty Blaise" 1966), John Schlesinger ("Far From the Madding Crowd" 1967), Ken Loach ("Poor Cow" 1967) and Pier Paolo Pasolini ("Teorema" 1968).
After his haunting appearance as an adult man revived after three decades from a coma he had lapsed into at birth in "The Mind of Mr. Soames" (1970), Stamp appeared in relatively few films during the 1970s. He has since re-established himself, primarily as a character actor; he played the arch-villainous General Zod in "Superman" (1978) and "Superman II" (1980) and the sequestered informer whose time has run out in Stephen Frears' offbeat thriller, "The Hit" (1984). Hollywood in the 80s and 90s featured him prominently in several generally mediocre films, usually typecast as a villain: "Legal Eagles" (1985), "Wall Street" (1987), "Alien Nation" (1988) and "The Real McCoy" (1993). An exception in casting, if not quality, was his kindly rancher in "Young Guns" (1988). An exceptional role and a performance to boot came for the veteran actor with "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" (1994), an art-house hit with Stamp's quietly underplayed transsexual receiving uniformly wonderful notices and lending a certain dignity the playful film might not otherwise have achieved.
That film provided a welcome career resurgence for the actor, who subsequently appeared in several projects, most notably in a fine performance in the lead role of Wilson, a recently released British ex-con who journeys to Los Angeles and unravels the murder of his estranged daughter, in director Steven Soderberg's highly stylish, uniquely edited and meditative crime noir "The Limey" (1999)--Soderberg also utlized footage of the much younger Stamp from his appearance in Ken Loach's "Poor Cow" (1967) to great flashback effect, and Stamp reprised the role of Wilson for a tiny cameo in the director's "Full Frontal" (2002).
Stamp took on the coveted role of Chancellor Valorum in "Star Wars Episode I: The Pantom Menace" (1999), as the ineffectual leader of the Senate of the Great Republic manipulated by the evil future Emperor, but the actor's reported frustrations with George Lucas' filmmaking methods led him to bow out of future instalments. The Steve Martin comedy "Bowfinger" (2000) provided Stamp with another welcome comic turn, as the head of a Scientology-like cult manipulating Hollywood star Eddie Murphy.
Another standout role came in the French art house hit "Ma femme est une actrice"/"My Wife is an Actress" (2001), he played straight man as Ashton Kutcher's imperious boss in the less well-received comedy "My Boss' Daughter" and appeared again with Murphy in Disney's theme-park inspired flop "The Haunted Mansion" (both 2003). Stamp's next major big screen appearance was in the comic book-inspired action film "Elektra" (2005) opposite Jennifer Garner, adding a bit of cheek to his trademark intensity in his role as Stick, the blind warrior who resurrected Elektra and trained her to hone her martial arts abilities.
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